[caption id="attachment_66649" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Ian McKinley in Leinster's blue."]
AS Ireland prepare for Sunday's opening World Cup encounter with the USA in New Zealand, the rugby action at home saw Munster, Connacht and Ulster start their Pro 12 League (formerly Magners League) campaigns with victories.
But Leinster had a disappointing 27-3 away loss to the Ospreys with Irish back Luke Fitzgerald sustaining a worrying knee injury.
Elsewhere, champions Munster comfortably defeated Newport Gwent Dragons 20-12 at Musgrave Park, while Connacht secured an important 11-9 away victory over Treviso in Italy and Ulster slammed Glasgow 28-14 at Ravenhill.
A further blow for Leinster, and Irish rugby in general, is the news that the highly rated outhalf Ian McKinley has had to retire. Sadly, the 21-year-old McKinley has not fully recovered from a bad eye injury.
